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The Mahasamiti meeting of Nepali Congress started on Monday after a six-year hiatus. Although the party’s top decision-making body, which is supposed to meet every two years, last held its meeting in 2018, which came hot on the heels of Congress’ historic electoral drubbing in general elections. 

In these past six years, the party has re-emerged as the largest party, thanks to the electoral alliance with the CPN (Maoist Center) and a few other fringe parties in the 2022 general elections. However, the grand old party is still not out of the woods yet. The party’s popularity is diminishing, intra-party rift is becoming increasingly tense, and the organizational structure is in shambles.  

The electoral alliance in 2022 elections catapulted NC back to the top spot, but many in the party are of the view that they should think about contesting the next general elections without any alliance.     

NC General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa and his team is pressing the leadership of Sher Bahadur Deuba to pass a resolution that the party will not forge a pre-poll alliance. However, Deuba and his supporters are not keen about the idea. 

In a direct reference to the Maoist party, in his political document, Thapa states: “The Mahasamiti meeting should make a resolution that the party would not forge a pre-election alliance, and will not create an environment in which the cadres will be forced to vote for other parties.”

The document further states though the prospects of a single party securing a majority are slim under the current electoral system, there can be a post-election alliance to deliver a government on the basis of common minimum program. The grassroots level cadres, according to Thapa, feel that pre-poll alliance is eroding the party’s ideology. 

“Between the 2017 and 2022 elections, our popular votes have shrunken by five percent. This is because NC cadres and supporters did not get the chance to vote for their party,” Thapa told the Mahasamiti meeting. 

Regarding the existing alliance with Maoist, Thapa said that the party should stick to it for the next four years, but come the next general elections, the Nepali Congress should fight alone. 

The faction led by senior leader Shekhar Koirala has a similar position on electoral alliance. 

“When I visit outside Kathmandu, our cadres often ask me, ‘When will we contest the election as a single party?’ Because of the electoral alliance, our vote share has decreased to 27 percent from 34\35 percent,” he said.

The reading of Thapa and Koirala regarding the pre-election alliance is the same, but their ambition to become the next president of the NC prevents them from joining hands to mount pressure on the current leadership. 

NC President Deuba and his supporters do not subscribe to Thapa and Koirala’s views. They believe that the alliance with Maoists helped the Congress become the largest party, and that this partnership could be continued in the future. 

The NC leadership takes the alliance with the Maoists as a compulsion and strategy to keep its main rival, the CPN-UML, out of power. But the local level leaders are not satisfied with the alliance. This was evident when the party members disregarded the NC-Maoist alliance and voted for the UML candidate in the National Assembly elections of Koshi province. The incident has created an environment of distrust between the NC and the Maoist party. 

NC leader Nain Singh Mahar says local level cadres are dead set against pre-poll alliance, mainly with the Maoist party. 

Given the animosity between two parties during the insurgency era, the NC cadres do not want to vote for the Maoist party. During the armed rebellion launched by the Maoists, the rebel force killed scores of NC cadres and confiscated their properties. To this day, the supporters of NC see the Maoists as their enemy. Even when the Maoists decided to join mainstream politics, scores of NC leaders and cadres were against the peace process initiated by former Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala.

In the 2022 general elections, the NC forged an electoral alliance with the Maoists to defeat the UML. Soon after the elections, the Maoist chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, whose party polled behind the UML in third position, urged the NC to support his prime ministerial bid.

When the NC rejected Dahal’s bid, the Maoist leader went on to join forces with the UML to become prime minister. This led to a bizarre scenario where the NC, despite winning the most number of seats in the House of Representatives, was consigned to the opposition aisle. Deuba’s leadership was heavily criticized at the time. Questions were also raised about alliance politics, particularly when two parties with opposing ideologies come together. 

The Deuba leadership managed to break the Maoist-UML alliance and reform another government under Dahal, but the debate over electoral alliance did not leave the NC. Deuba and his supporters may not want to pass the resolution rejecting the pre-poll alliance, as it could create friction within the current coalition. But this does not mean that the pressure is not off from Deuba. 

If the NC Mahasamiti meeting endorses the resolution, it will surely create a rift in the NC-Maoist coalition. The next general elections are still four years away, and if NC passes such a proposal, there is a high chance that the Maoists will once again join forces with the UML. 

It’s clear that Deuba doesn’t want to scupper his chance to become prime minister as per the deal reached with the Maoist chairman and current prime minister, Dahal. Deuba will try his best not to get the Thapa-proposed resolution passed from the Mahasamiti meeting. 

Vice-President Purna Bahadur Khadka, a leader close to Deuba, in his political document, states that the election alliance has become a compulsion due to the current electoral system. 

“We are forging the electoral alliance to avoid the risks of political instability because under the current system, no party secures the majority numbers required to form a government.” 

Another General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma has taken a middle path stating that it would be too early to decide about the electoral alliance, as the election is four years away.  He nevertheless agrees that alliance politics is damaging the party's reputation among the supporters.

Frustration is also growing among the Congress cadres and supporters because the current coalition government has failed to deliver. Although the NC dominates in all three tiers of government, the party has not taken any notable initiatives to ensure good governance and development. 

According to Thapa, there is not proper coordination and communication between the party and government, a major challenge that all governments have been facing after the restoration of democracy in 1990.  

As the decision of the ongoing Mahasamiti meeting of the NC could impact the national politics, the Maoist and the UML will be closely following the development.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022, Nepal joined the chorus of widespread international condemnation against Putin’s Russia. 

Nepal went so far as to vote in the emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly against  Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Russia immediately withdraw its forces and abide by international law. 

At the time, many foreign policy watchers said Nepal’s voting in the UN went against the country’s long-standing non-alignment policy. In the subsequent voting process concerning the Russia-Ukraine war, Nepal decided to maintain a neutral position.  The reverberations of the war was felt in Nepal’s economy too, although not as much in many parts of the world. Interestingly, soon after the war, Moscow came up with a new proposal to advance bilateral cooperation with Kathmandu.

Amidst the war with Ukraine, Russia invited Nepali politicians for an official visit. Chairman of National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timalsina paid an official visit to Moscow last year.  The Russian Embassy in Kathmandu also submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing willingness to contribute to Nepal’s connectivity and other areas.

At one point, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal even declared that he was interested in visiting Moscow or hosting Putin in Kathmandu. With its reputation taking a major slide, Russia wanted to create a favorable public opinion, and it had succeeded with the Dahal government. 

But two years after the war broke out, Nepal faces an unpleasant moment with Russia. Lured by good earning prospects, Nepali youths are flying to Russia through unscrupulous agents to join the Russian Armed Forces. The horrors of war have visited Nepal in the form of Nepali youths either dying or missing in the war.    

The official government figure says that 13 youths serving in the Russian army have been killed so far. But it cannot be trusted, since Russia does not give out the casualty numbers of its own soldiers, let alone the foreign soldiers who have joined its army. 

Russia has been recruiting foreign nationals including from Nepal to fight its war with Ukraine. Nepal’s request to Russia to stop the recruitment of Nepali youths has so far gone unheard. The Nepal government has also asked Russia to repatriate the Nepali youths who have joined the Russian Armed Forces and provide compensation to the families of those who have been killed in the war. 

Though Kathmandu and Russia are in constant communication, Russia is yet to respond to Nepal's request. It is not certain how many Nepali youths are currently serving in the Russian army. The government estimates the number around 200 but those who have escaped from Russia say that the number could be in the thousands.

Till now, 13 Nepalis have been confirmed killed, 50 have returned from Russia and approximately 150 families have submitted an application at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting for safe return of their family members.

Security agencies in Nepal have nabbed a group involved in sending Nepali youths to Russia. Similarly, the authorities have tightened the provision of visit visa after it was found that most of the youths were able to reach Moscow using visit visas. Similarly, the provision of no-objection letters has been extended to 10 countries. Work permits to Russia and Ukraine have also been barred.

But many Nepalis continue to reach Russia to join the army. It is said most of the new Nepali recruits joining the war are migrant workers based in the Middle East and other labor destinations.  

According to government officials, Russia has agreed to provide compensation to the family members of those who have been killed in the Russian army, but the two sides are yet to agree on the modality of how the compensation will be distributed. Nepal has requested Russia to send the cash incentives to the families in Nepal, but Russia is saying that family members should travel to Moscow to claim the compensation. 

Nepal has also requested Russia to send the bodies of Nepali citizens who have been identified and kept in the hospitals, but the issue of who will pay the money to repatriate the dead remains uncertain.

It is said the government is also in talks with Ukraine to free five Nepali prisoners of war. But officials say Ukraine has set some conditions to free those hostages. Some of the conditions include legal punishment for freed hostages once they have returned to Nepal and a guarantee that no Nepali shall join the Russian army again.

As more families are coming out claiming that their loved ones are missing in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Nepal government is facing increasing pressure to hold talks with Russia as well as Ukraine to secure the safer return of its citizens.

At the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit recently, Foreign Minister NP Saud met Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Vershinin and asked to stop the recruitment of Nepali nationals and send back those who have already been recruited. The latter assured to communicate Nepal’s concern to the Kremlin, but nothing came of it. Saud has recently expressed his willingness to travel to Russia to talk on the same issue, but Russia has not agreed so far.  

This week families of those who are in the Russian army organized a press conference to air their concerns. Suman Rai, who escaped the Russian army and returned to Nepal said more than 500 Nepali nationals have already died in the war and thousands are still serving in the Russian army. He added that most of the Nepali youths, who do not understand Russian language, have been deployed in the frontline.

According to some media reports, Russia has been providing around Rs 300,000 to Nepali youths. To attract foreign nationals to join the Russian army, the Kremlin has also pledged to provide them with Russian citizenship.  

Nepali youths who reach Russia are said to be paying up to Rs 1m to agents and brokers. The promise of lucrative salary has driven many Nepalis to risk their lives and join the Russia-Ukraine war. Even those people who were holding permanent jobs in Nepal’s security agencies are joining the Russian army. 

Sun Haiyan, deputy minister of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party visited Nepal from Jan 26-29. Among other engagements, she held a meeting with second-rung leaders of the national parties represented in the federal parliament. At the meeting, she said that some forces were trying to spoil Nepal-China relations. Sun didn’t name names but she was hinting at the US and India. 

Of late, bilateral exchanges between the two countries have increased. China has also become more vocal and loud in Kathmandu. At the same time, India and the US have also expedited bilateral exchanges with Nepal at multiple levels. Meanwhile, the current government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal is grappling to maintain cordial ties with all three powers. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is led by Nepali Congress’s Narayan Prakash Saud who is an inexperienced politician in the realm of foreign policy and international relations. This article delves into how the current government is dealing with India, China and the US. 

India

With India, the Dahal-led government has adopted the approach of focusing more on development and economic partnership. Foreign Ministry officials say the signing of power trade agreement with India to export up to 10,000 MW electricity is a key remarkable development in bilateral relations. The agreement, they say, has also created a conducive environment for foreign investment in Nepal’s hydropower sector. Another significant development linked to this deal is India’s nod to allow Nepal to export 40 MW electricity to Bangladesh, which is likely to be operationalized from July this year. After a long time, the dream of regional power has been materialized.

Similarly, officials claim several connectivity and other bilateral projects are moving ahead, and the government has been able to secure Indian support for survivors of the Jajarkot earthquake. India has also increased the grant amount by InRs 1bn to be provided to Nepal under the fiscal year 2024-25. In the new provision, India will be providing Nepal with a total grant of InRs 6.50bn.  

As far as the long-standing issues such as border disputes and the report of Eminent Persons’ Group is concerned, it seems that the present government has adopted a different approach. The Dahal government is unlikely to push India to receive the EPG report. 

As for the Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1950, according to a top diplomat, the present government is of the view that there should be an all-party consensus within the country before approaching India. On border disputes, the government reckons that both political and bureaucratic levels should work simultaneously. 

Speaking at a program a few days back, Foreign Minister Saud said that border disputes between Nepal and India should be resolved on the basis of political consensus. “We have a joint technical committee in this regard. The committee should be activated after which the leadership of both countries should resolve this problem diplomatically based on the facts,” he said. 

China

After the formation of the Dahal-led government, bilateral engagement and exchanges between Nepal and China have increased notably. China seems serious about expediting the works of some projects, such as Ring Road expansion and maintenance of Araniko Highway, among others. Similarly, the two sides have started the paperwork to expedite the construction of cross-border transmission lines while preparations have begun to construct an agro industrial park in Chitwan and Gorkha. 

Over the past few months, both air and road connectivity between the two countries have widened. But the current government still faces the criticism of giving less priority to China, particularly concerning the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. Beijing has been pressing Kathmandu to sign the BRI implementation plan at the earliest, but the Dahal-led government has not shown much enthusiasm for it.  

A few days back, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha said at an event that Nepal and China were working to finalize the BRI implementation plan. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made it clear that Nepal will not take loans from China to realize the BRI projects.

 With big projects, such as those envisioned by the BRI, showing no signs of progressing, China has of late directed its focus on small projects in Nepal, ones that could immediately bring changes in people’s life. A senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office says as the Nepali Congress has been dictating the conduct of foreign policy, there has been little progress in regard to bilateral partnership with China.

While Beijing is pleased with the position taken by Prime Minister Dahal and the senior leaders of major parties against the independence of Taiwan, China still seems wary of the growing influence of Western countries in Nepal.

US

Foreign Minister Saud says there has been substantial improvement in the relationship with the US. For some years after 2018, the Nepal-US ties mainly revolved around the issue of ratifying the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) through parliament. The much controversial issue has now been resolved following the parliamentary endorsement of the MCC Nepal Compact, but some technical details are still there. 

In the MCC, rising cost of the proposed projects is one of the key issues which needs to be resolved through bilateral talks and negotiations. Nepal has already made it clear to the American side that it is not in a position of investing more money in the projects.  

In the past, the US’ Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), seen by many as a tool to curb China’s growing influence, had also impacted the Nepal-US relationship. But the American side has managed to downplay the IPS concerns, though some of its components are under implementation. 

During his visit to the US, Foreign Minister Saud held talks with his American counterpart Antony Blinken and other high-level government officials. Along with increasing the volume of bilateral assistance, American private companies have shown interest to invest in Nepal’s tourism, agriculture, medical and other areas, and they are seeking an appropriate environment. In 2023, there was a series of visits from the American side. In the meeting with Saud, Blinken said Nepal is a valued partner in the Indo-Pacific region which has given a clear message that America accords high priority to its relationship with Nepal.

Champa Devi Karki of CPN (Maoist Center) was almost sure to win the National Assembly election as one of the ruling coalition candidates from Koshi province. But she lost the Jan 25 vote to CPN-UML candidate Rukmini Koirala. 

Maoist leaders now claim that Karki lost because of the betrayal of trust by the Nepali Congress. They say although the Maoist party voted for NC candidate Krishna Prasad Sitaula, there was a significant crossing of the floor  by the NC voters. 

Though the Maoists emerged as the largest party in the NA after the election held to select 19 upper house members, the party is unhappy with the poll outcome from Koshi.

It is said that NC senior leader Shekhar Koirala, who is earnestly working to break the Maoist-Congress alliance, influenced the voting pattern of the NC. Earlier, the Koirala faction had switched to the UML to elect Kedar Bahadur Karki as chief minister after NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba fielded his candidate. It was later revealed that there was a secret understanding between Koirala and Deuba in the appointment of chief minister, which miffed the Maoist party. 

That was the first instance which sowed the seed of discord inside the ruling coalition. The latest election betrayal in Koshi province has deepened the mistrust between the Maoists and NC.  

"We have reached a point where we have to seriously review our alliance with the Nepali Congress,” says Maoist leader Barsha Man Pun. “In every election, we have been voting for NC candidates, and in return, we are being betrayed. The Koshi province election has forced us to think whether the current coalition is beneficial for us.”  

What happened in Koshi province is not the only reason why the Maoist and NC are growing apart. It began with the arrest of senior NC leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand in the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal.

Many NC leaders suspect that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Center is weaponing corruption scandals against the NC leaders while overlooking the misdeeds of the leaders within his own party. 

NC senior leader Koirala has always been vocal about changing the current coalition and forging an alliance with the UML. Of late, more and more leaders are joining the chorus. They want to remove Dahal from power because they feel that his government has not been good to the NC. Even though the Maoist Center has only 32 seats in the House of Representatives, making it the third largest party, NC leaders believe the Maoist party is becoming overbearing in the government affairs — even bullying the NC and UML by opening investigation into past corruption scandals involving their leaders.   

Meanwhile, the Maoist leaders claim it is the NC that has been dictating the government’s decision-making process including in the foreign policy realm. A senior Maoist leader says the NC has tied the hands of Prime Minister Dahal, so that he is unable to make independent decisions. 

The Maoist party is particularly displeased with Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud from the NC. “The Foreign Minister has failed to strike a balance among the three major powers because he and his party are biased towards India and the US.” 

During his China visit, Prime Minister Dahal made some commitments regarding the Belt and Road Initiatives and other projects, but there has been little to no follow through on those pledges. The Maoists blame the NC-led Foreign Ministry for this. 

Maoist leaders say Prime Minister Dahal wants to sign the BRI implementation plan at the earliest, but the foreign minister has not been cooperative.  

Some NC leaders believe that the only reason the NC-Maoist coalition has not fallen through is because Deuba wants to ensure a smooth transfer of power. They say the party president is of the belief that he can get to power only if Dahal is allowed to remain in power for two and a half years. 

Though there are strong voices inside the NC that the party should not forge an electoral alliance with Maoists in the next general elections, Deuba is of the view that without an alliance the NC alone cannot maintain the status of the largest party. 

However, Deuba does not see the similar prospect in forging an alliance with the UML. He is of the view that there cannot be an electoral partnership between first and second parties. The NC regards the UML, which has a strong organizational base, as a key election rival. 

In the past, the UML had even reached out to the NC, proposing an alliance deal between the two parties to ensure the government’s stability until the next elections. But Deuba was not keen to talk with the UML. 

As the Maoist-NC coalition teeters on the brink, the UML watches from the sidelines. UML Chairman Oli, who had previously made his mission to win a single party majority in the 2027 general elections, has been hinting at mid-term elections in recent days. Oli senses the simmering tension within the ruling coalition.

Prime Minister Dahal is likely to face more political challenges from his own coalition partner and the opposition in the days ahead. The UML and Rastriya Prajatantra Party are already planning to hit the streets against the government. The last thing Dahal wants is an unruly coalition. 

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which has 14 seats in the federal parliament, is planning to organize a series of street protests from February. However, the royalist party, advocating for the restoration of the monarchy and Hindu state, has yet to clarify whether this is going to be their decisive movement for what they call correcting the course of Nepali politics.   

Ever since the country abolished the centuries-old monarchy in 2008 and decided to adopt a federal republic set-up, the RPP has been batting for the return of the king, reinstatement of Hindu state and dissolution of federalism. RPP Chairman Rajendra Lingden told a group of editors on Tuesday that the current crop of leaders, who has been in the driving seat of the government for the past three decades, have completely failed.

He said the party’s protest plans for “course correction” means adopting a new system of directly elected prime minister, ceremonial monarchy and scrapping the federal structure. Lingden also proposed granting more power to the local level as well as slashing down the number of elected representatives both at the center and the local level. 

The RPP does not have a strong presence in parliament, nor does it have enough public support to push their cause. The party’s position in national politics has been middling at best; it hasn’t garnered more than 25 parliamentary seats after the restoration of democracy in 1990. 

The party is aware of this reality. Political observers say RPP has announced its protest plans to create a favorable public opinion of the party at a time when the vast majority of the people are frustrated with the major political actors—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center). 

“Public frustration is boiling up as the country’s economy is in doldrums. Capital flight is increasing, there are no jobs and corruption is entrenched. To resolve all these issues we need to forge a new political agreement,” said Lingden.  

But major political forces are unlikely to make any compromise with the RPP, unless the party manages to mount a massive street protest. While the general public may have deep grievances and anger towards the big parties, political observers say the people will agree with the RPP’s agenda of dismantling the current system brought by the constitution of 2015. 

Lingden does not agree with this narrative. He said that his party is not trying to take the nation backward. “We are championing a democracy with monarchy. We want to limit the role of monarchy to that of a guardian,” he said. “There are several examples of monarchy existing even in advanced democracies.”

Lingden is of the view that the country cannot wait until the next general elections of 2084 BS (2027) to bring changes. “Economic crisis, corruption and bad-governance are bringing the country to its knees, but the major parties and their leaders have not realized this,” he added.

The RPP, however, has not clarified how the party’s “new political agreement” is going to address the problems facing the country. His proposition is that the same set of parties should continue ruling over the country, with a monarch serving as the head of the state instead of president.  

Only royalist supporters are likely to be buoyed by the RPP’s proposition. The moderate mass gathered by businessmen turned political activist, Durga Prasai, in Kathmandu a few months ago has certainly struck a chord among many monarchy sympathizers. And it won’t be far-fetched to say that the RPP is confident that it will succeed in drawing the same—if not more—number of supporters.  

This is not to say that major parties won’t be feeling anxious. They are aware of the public anger and frustration against them. No wonder, both ruling and opposition parties share a similar view whenever forces like the RPP or a one man-driven initiative like that of Prasai challenge the system.

Top leaders of major parties claim that there is an “invisible force” backing the royalist parties to reverse the current political system. Lingden laughs off such a claim. “We are for the political system backed by the people, without any external interference,” he said.  

What Lingden cannot deny is the fact that the royalist supporters are extremely divided into various camps. Over the past three decades, the party has undergone multiple splits. Currently there are two sets of Rastriya Prajatantra Party: Lingden’s RPP and the Kamal Thapa-led Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPPN). The two camps held separate programs to celebrate the birth anniversary of King Prithvi Narayan Shah on 12 January. Even the last monarch, Gyanendra Shah, seems to have his own preference, given his frosty relationship with Thapa and closeness with Lingden.  

Kathmandu: Nepal has requested Russia not to recruit Nepali youths in the Russian Army.

Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud made this request in the meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Vershinin, on the margins of the 19th NAM Summit that took place in Uganda.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says: "Foreign minister raised the issues related to Nepali nationals in the Russian Army, including the request not to recruit Nepali nationals, release those who are already recruited, repatriation of mortal remains of the deceased and compensation.”

The Russian deputy minister stated that efforts will be made to resolve the issues raised by the Nepali side.  There are no bilateral provisions on recruitment in the Russian forces, but reports suggest that Nepalis are serving alongside the Russians and fighters from several other countries lured by certain ‘incentives’.

Moscow has not responded to Nepal’s repeated requests for information about the Nepalis in the Russian army, though the government has said that hundreds of Nepalis have been serving the Russians, more than 100 have gone missing and 11 Nepalis have died in the war so far.

According to Saud, 115 families of Nepali youths, who have joined the Russian army, have submitted a request to the ministry calling for their early repatriation. We have asked Russia to repatriate the Nepalis serving its army and compensate the families of those killed in action, he said.

Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula is looking to make a political comeback by securing a National Assembly seat. Having lost two consecutive general elections of 2017 and 2022, the former home minister seems eager to wear the parliamentarian’s tag. 

The election for 19 new upper house members is set to take place next week and Sitaula’s victory is almost certain, thanks to a strategic electoral alliance within the ruling coalition. Sitaula, whose influence in national as well as party politics has been waning of late, managed to clinch the NA candidacy due to his closeness with the NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba. 

Despite differing opinions within the NC on the election candidates, consensus among top leaders of the ruling parties solidified Sitaula’s position in the upper house. Even Deuba’s rivals in the Congress party, Gagan Kumar Thapa and Shekhar Koirala, are rallying behind Sitaula, hailing it as an exceptional decision. Earlier, Thapa and Koirala were critical of Sitaula’s candidacy. They were in favor of fielding new faces, preferably experts on some fields, to honor the spirit of the NA as envisioned by the Constitution of Nepal, 2015.  

The buzz is that Sitaula’s entry into the federal parliament is not just a personal victory; it’s a strategic move made by the NC leadership to fortify the constitution against mounting challenges from royalist and anti-federal forces.

Whispers of Sitaula taking the reins as the chair of the upper house are also getting louder. Sources say that both CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have thrown their support behind Sitaula, putting an end to their claims for the coveted position. The term of incumbent NA chairman, Ganesh Prasad Timalsina, is ending in April.

Sitaula’s bid to enter the national assembly despite previous election setbacks has piqued the interest of many. After losing the 2017 and 2022 general elections to Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden from Jhapa constituency 3, Sitaula was relegated to the margins of national politics. Though he enjoyed the title of a senior leader within the Congress party, his role and influence were limited.

Afraid that he could completely lose his relevance inside the party and national politics, Sitaula, who once harbored the ambition of leading the NC, got close to the party president, Deuba. In the meantime, he continued to maintain a good rapport with the top leaders of other major parties, mainly Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Center. 

According to Sitaula, his candidacy is all about ensuring the complete implementation of the new constitution and safeguarding the rights of the people. 

Starting as a low-profile figure in the party after the restoration of democracy in 1990, Sitaula emerged as a key player during the peace negotiations with Maoist rebels. His alliance with then NC President Girija Prasad Koirala catapulted him into the national political arena, eventually leading to roles as deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs.

Sitaula’s moment to shine came as one of the chief negotiators of peace with the Maoist rebel group. His role in bringing the Maoists into mainstream politics was widely praised.  

After the success of Janaandolan-2, Koirala appointed Sitaula as deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs which further elevated his profile in national politics and inside the party. This also increased his political ambition and started projecting himself as the Koirala’s successor, ahead of other senior leaders including Deuba, Sushil Koirala and Ram Chandra Poudel. He even contested for the position of party president, only to lose the election with a huge margin.

It is no secret that Situala, who has lost his influence and supporters in the party, has only managed to maintain his relevance with Deuba’s support. Now Deuba’s support is set to land him the post of the upper house chair.

Nepal has reasserted its commitment to Non-Alignment Movement’s (NAM) objectives and principles at the Ministerial Meeting of the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement being held in Kampala, Uganda. Addressing the meeting, Foreign Minister NP Saud said the constitution of Nepal itself embraces NAM principles as a basis for its foreign policy.

“We always conduct independent, objective, balanced, and non-aligned foreign policy. We never join any military alliance and never accept to be a part of the security pact of any country,” he said, hinting at the security and strategic pacts of major powers mainly of China and the US.

Over the past few years, there has been a debate in Kathmandu about America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and State Partnership Program, and China’s Global Security Initiatives. Minister Saud’s statement is in line with Nepal’s commitment to not joining any strategic or military alliances. 

Of late, countries in the Global South, including Nepal, are facing increasing pressure from big powers, mainly the US and China, to choose their sides. Most of the time, they have stayed out of the great-power rivalry.  

The NAM summit is taking place at a time when the world is confronting multiple challenges, from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war to escalating tensions in the Middle East and China-Taiwan dispute.  

“We are witnessing the worst nightmare in Gaza. We all have been bearing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war. To our dismay, geopolitical competition and polarization have resurfaced as defining features of our global political order,” said Saud. He stressed that NAM principles have become more significant than ever.  

Over the past few months, there is a growing debate in Nepal about the revision of non-alignment policy. Some politicians and experts are of the view that in the changing context, the principle of non-alignment is becoming irrelevant. Some have proposed the policy of multi-alignment without elaborating what it entails.

Many of them provide the example of India, which is sending a low-key representation to the NAM summit. But the current government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has reasserted the importance of non-alignment policy. Dahal himself is attending the conference to demonstrate Nepal’s commitment.

Minister Saud said that NAM, as a strong bloc with 120 countries representing around 60 percent of the world’s population, holds “both majority and moral strengths to devise solutions to global problems that we face today, from conflicts to climate change; economic injustice to social inequality; the digital divide to debt distress, and hunger to disease.”

“NAM must play a pivotal role in promoting multilateralism, defending the UN Charter and international law, finding peaceful solutions to disputes, reforming the global financial architectures, creating a just global economic order for shared affluence,” he added.

Saud also said that NAM should focus on the achievement of SDGs and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Paris Agreement, in the spirit of leaving no one behind, embracing the power of technology to drive progress for all, and ensuring climate justice for vulnerable countries and regions. 

“We anticipate a robust cooperation framework and renewed partnership with all our development partners and fellow members of NAM, for investment, resources, capacity-building, and technologies in the true spirit of North-South, South-South, and Triangular Cooperation,” he said. 

Nepal is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was formally established at a summit held on 1-6 Sept 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.